Panic has just started shipping the Playdate, an unusual new gaming handheld. Part of the Playdate’s appeal is its quirky hardware: In an age where new handhelds have gorgeous OLED screens or are powerful enough to play your Steam game library, the Playdate is a tiny device with a crank that can only display black and white. But Playdate is also fun because of its game “season” release mode.
Everyone who buys Playdate gets access to the full season of 24 games, but you can’t play all of them at once. Instead, you get two games when you first set up your device, after which Panic will send you two new games on Monday at an almost TV show-like release cadence.
“I guess I want to spend time with each of them”
“We’ve been excited about the idea of delivery over time because for me personally, getting 24 games on a device at once, I bet it’s going to be a bit overwhelming,” Panic Director of Special Projects Greg Maletic, Tell me in an interview. “I guess I want to spend time with each of them. And delivery over time enforces that.”
This is an interesting idea. Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo all offer their own collections of games through subscription services, but the sheer number of games available can make deciding to play and stick with any one game a daunting task. It’s akin to being paralyzed while looking for something to watch on Netflix. And I’m just starting to accept that I’ll never catch up with my backlog of purchased games that I’ve never finished (or, in some cases, even started). In contrast, Panic’s approach means that no matter when you buy Playdate, you’ll get two games a week for about three months, so even if you get Playdate a few months later, you’ll have a more limited Select to start releasing.
However, Panic isn’t sure how people will respond to the staggered release. “Do people like that, or do they find it annoying? We don’t actually know yet,” Maritage said. Panic said on its website that the original intention was to release a “fully synced season” for each owner. But to do that, Panic has to somehow ensure that a lot of people can get their Playdates at the same time, which will prove challenging given the global chip shortage (which has affected Playdates).
Panic is also working on an app called Catalog, where you can browse games directly on Playdate, which could be a useful way to find new off-season games. “It’s going to be a selection of games we liked, we wrote, we commissioned… just discovered,” Maletic said. “We want to make them visible to Playdate viewers.” He noted that developers don’t need to sell Playdate games in the catalog. (For example, there are some titles available on itch.io right now.) But with the Catalog, “we want to be able to show [games] We really want people to pay attention to that. Maletic said the Catalog will be “hopefully out soon.”
At the same time, you can sideload games, which could be important for the future of the device. If Panic never made a second season, or the Catalog didn’t prove successful, sideloading means you can download or buy games from elsewhere, even if Panic doesn’t explicitly approve or curate them.
Given the experimental nature of the release schedule, Panic has yet to commit to a second season. “But for sure, if people like it, then we’re definitely going to work on it,” Maletic said.